1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system, and in particular, to a computer implemented method for managing directories. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a computer implemented method, system, and computer usable program code for preserving references to deleted directory entries.
2. Description of the Related Art
A directory is a hierarchical arrangement of information pertaining to objects, such as users, groups, and systems in an organization. A directory server is a server in a data processing environment that provides a directory service. A directory service is a process by which a user in the data processing environment can retrieve details of an object from a directory server by providing a name of the object.
Directory servers may serve directories that are arranged according to some standard. Standards, such as Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), specify ways of accessing the information stored in a directory, the operations allowed on the information in the directory, and how those operations are to be executed with respect to the directory. A directory may be implemented using a standard, a variation of the standard, or by using a proprietary hierarchy. For example, the illustrative embodiments may be implemented using an X.500 directory server, which implements a directory standard of that name. The illustrative embodiments may also be implemented using a name server, or a user location service server (ULS server).
Information pertaining to an object, such as a user or a system, in a directory is called an entry. Typically, an entry includes a name and a set of attributes. An attribute of an entry is a data component of the entry. An attribute may itself have a value, or an attribute may be a data structure that may include one or more tags, each tag having a value. A tag is a data component of an attribute. Entries in a directory may be modified from time to time. Furthermore, entries in a directory may relate to and reference other entries. Certain data stored in a directory may include references to a set of entries in the directory. A set of entries is one or more entries. Frequently, such as during directory maintenance, an entry may have to be modified or deleted.